Golden Eagles Swept on Texas Road Trip, Fall 3-0 to Wayland Baptist

PLAINVIEW, Texas (September 22, 2012) - It was a very difficult road trip for the Golden Eagles as John Brown fell in its final match of its Lone Star portion of the schedule to Sooner Athletic Conference opponent Wayland Baptist, 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-20), dropping its record to 16-6 overall and 0-2 in conference play this morning.

Junior Staci Williamson paced John Brown on offense as the outside hitter notched 10 kills followed by Libby Blasingame's seven. Audrey Dearien chipped in with six.

The Golden Eagles faltered early, allowing the Flying Queens (6-9) a quick 11-4 lead. Coming out of a well-placed time out, JBU was able to earn seven of the next eight points, the last on a Dearien kill, to whittle the WBU lead down to just one (12-11).

Both teams continued to trade points late into the first set. Tied at 22, a Staci Williamson kill gave John Brown a slim lead, only to see it evaporate by two Wayland Baptist kills and an attack error, handing the Flying Queens the first set.

Both teams continued to battle in the second set, one that featured nine lead changes. Williamson recorded five kills in the game, including three-straight that vaulted JBU to an 18-15 advantage.

Wayland would battle back, knotting the score at 22. Dearien would then record another kill to tie the score at 24 before another error sealed the Golden Eagles' fate in the second set, 26-24.

Again late in the set, John Brown and the Flying Queens were deadlocked at 19. Wayland would, unfortunately, prevail yet again as two JBU errors ignited WBU's 6-1 run to close out the game and the match.

After an 0-3 road trip to western Texas, John Brown will look to improve its game away from the friendly confines of Bill George Arena as it travels to No. 11 Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday (Sept. 27). First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.